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View SlideshowRequest to buy this photoCARLOS OSORIO | ASSOCIATED PRESSWith a Ferrari hybrid in front, Fiat Chrysler displays some of its vehicles during a day of presentations in Auburn Hills, Mich., at which it unveiled its new business plan.

DETROIT — Fiat Chrysler is betting on a breakneck expansion of its upmarket Alfa Romeo, Jeep and
Maserati brands to transform itself into a global carmaking powerhouse within five years.

The newly merged group outlined a long-awaited business plan yesterday aiming to revive its
historic carmaking names and persuade investors it can overcome high debt, an uncertain market
backdrop and past missteps to close the gap on industry leaders such as Volkswagen and Toyota.

“Today is much more than a new chapter. We are writing an entire new book,” Chief Executive
Sergio Marchionne told reporters and analysts during a day of presentations in Detroit.

Besides an aggressive, if belated, push into Asia, Marchionne promised to increase North
American sales by half as Chrysler broadens its lineup and the embattled Dodge brand digs in.

Fiat Chrysler said it would invest billions to build new models and ramp up output, predicting
that sales would surge to almost 7 million vehicles by 2018 from 4.4 million last year — a target
some analysts thought highly ambitious.

“It’s definitely a tall order, but I don’t think we ever expected anything less from Marchionne
in terms of the ambition,” said Exane-BNP Paribas analyst Stuart Pearson.

Fiat shares have risen 44 percent, outpacing a 5.4 percent gain for the broader sector, since
the Italian company announced a Jan. 1 deal to take full control of Chrysler and create the world’s
seventh-biggest carmaker.

The group, preparing to move its main share listing from Milan, Italy, to New York as soon as
Oct. 1, hopes its combined clout and profitable U.S. business can overcome European losses and
propel it into the major league.

With sales of the mass-market Fiat brand expected to remain flat in Europe over the coming
years, analysts said the strategy made sense, though some were skeptical of the sales targets.

“Of all the plans presented so far, Jeep is both the most interesting and the most tangible,”
said ISI Group analyst George Galliers from the sidelines of the presentations.

“The opportunity is clearly there, but 1.9 million Jeep units is a stretch,” he added. The
brokerage has forecast Jeep sales of 1.2 million in 2018.

Jeep, whose products trace their roots to the iconic World War II vehicle, is seen as Fiat
Chrysler’s biggest opportunity to tap fast-growing demand for SUVs in Asia.

While Marchionne has a track record of dealmaking in 10 years at Fiat’s helm, he has been less
successful at delivering a string of ambitious turnaround plans, with Fiat losing share in its main
European market amid delayed investments and some bad design choices.

The U.S. market is altogether more buoyant, but Chrysler and Dodge have suffered lately from an
investment slowdown in new models.

For the Dodge lineup, which lost ground as deliveries fell 6 percent through April, the company
pledged to hold sales steady at 600,000 vehicles despite discontinuation of the Avenger sedan and
Grand Caravan minivan.

But Chrysler will add a subcompact 100 sedan and new SUVs including a plug-in hybrid to restore
sales from 350,000 last year back to their 2005 peak of 800,000, the company said.

Also yesterday, the company announced that it posted a net loss of 319 million euros ($444
million) for the first quarter compared with a net profit of 31 million euros a year earlier.